Electrical connector



May l, 1945 G. B. BENANDER 2,374,971

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Filed oct. 15, 194s I rwe ntor: George B.Berwahcler by U@ @They His Patented May l, 1945 e ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR George B. Benander, Oaklawn, R. I., assignor to Monowatt Electric Corporation, a corporation of Connecticut Application October l5, 1943, Serial No. 506,345

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to electrical connectors including male and female connecting members enclosed in a casing for connecting cable or cord sections of an electric Wiring system. More specifically the invention relates to the type of connectors which include an elbow casing or casing member.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved construction and arrangement of such connectors in which the elbow casing or casing member may be easily assembled or dismantled in part or in whole for repair or inspection.

For a consideration of what l2 believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the .following description and the claim appended thereto in connection with the accompanying drawing.

En the drawing Fig. l illustrates a sectional 'View of a connector' embodying rny invention; Fig. 2 is a section along line 2 2 of Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is an exploded, perspective view of the con hector.

The connector comprises an insulating block lli of molded material with a plurality of terminal contacts, in the present instance including three nlarge-diameter female contacts ii spaced along a central plane through the ycylindrical block to and six small-diameter contacts l2 spaced on opposite sides of such central plane. Each terininalcontact has an end portion or' lug connection to a wire ci an electric sys i or" each terminal. conr receiving a pir, einher, .not shown., r)The h terminal contacts Jlosed i shell and axially held ineens of a shoulder l5 formed by Athe id a spring ring it, ln addition the olcclt in ,y he angularly positioned in the shell bysuitable tongue and groove connections formed between the block and the shell. An arrangement ci 'this kind is .more fully described in my copending application on Electrical connectors, Serial No. 480,348, lled March 2d, 1943. The shell ld is enclosed within a housing including an internally threaded ring il with a nange l il at one end hearing against a collar it? formed on the housing lil. The ring ll' may serve to secure ann other housing part such as a split shell member containing a contact block with pins to the contact block; iii described in the aforementioned copending application.

The right-hand end is machined to form a plurality of circurrneren-a tially spaced projections or teeth and an anportion of the shell it fifi LDS

nular groove 2|. An elbow 22 is connected to the right-hand end of the shell I4. This elbow consists of two intersecting conduits or conduit members 23 and 24 arranged at right angles. The conduit 2 4 according to my invention is split along a plane through its centerline and per pendicular to the centerline of the conduit 23, thus forming two halves 25 and 26. The half 25 is integrally formed with the conduit 23 and the half 26 is connected to the half 25 by a tongue and groove connection. More specifically, the half 25 has an outer groove 2l for receiving a tongue 2li formed on the adjacent portion or" the half 2t, From another viewpoint, the half has a .flange 2o which may be slid into a groove of the conduit hali The left-hand oortion of the conduit 2d is cylindrical while the right-hand part is substantially conical, tapering towards the conduit 23. The iront portion of the conduit 2d is reduced in thickness, forming an inner shoulder tit which when assembled on the shell if? abuts against the face of the projections cn the shell. The lower half integral with the conduit 23 has a circumierentially extending projection 32, forming with the shoulder ill a circumferentially extending groove 33. When assembled the groove 2t* accommodates a plurality of the projections and axially positions the elbow. Axially extending projection is formed in the groove adapted to :it into any of the grooves ro ned between projections T projects W ser and the conduit half attached to the toothed end or" the shell l@ in the desired angular position relative to the shell, Thereupon the half 25 is .axially slid onto the halt i225 and secured in its end position against axial movement by rneans of two screws i threaded into bores 35 on the half 26, which bores are located so that the screws will project into corresponding spaces between the teeth 2t.

l'n an actual installation, as pointed out above, wires of a wiring system are secured to the lugs i3 of the terminal contact. If at any time it is desired to inspect the connection between any terminal and a wire, all that is necessary is to remove the upper conduit half 26. This may be easily done by sliding the half 2t axially away from the ring ll upon loosening of the screws 35. The free end of the conduit 23 has an outer,

threadedportion 36a for connection to another conduit member or toa packing ring, as described in the aforementioned copending application. Upon'removal of such other conduit or packing ring and dismantling of the conduit half 26 the conduitI 23 may be dropped downward from the position in Fig. 1 so that the entire end of the contact member becomes accessible for inspection and repair.

Thus, with my invention I have accomplished an improved construction and arrangement of elbow type connectors in which the housing includes an elbow made of two parts of which one part consists of a. conduit to which is attached a rst portion of another conduit adapted to be joined with a second portion of such other conduit through a tongue and groove connection formed between the two portions and preferably located in a piane through the centerline of the other conduit and at an angle to the centerline of the first mentioned conduit. This angle is preferably the same as the angle formed between the centerlines of the two conduits, that is, in case the two conduits are perpendicular to each other said plane is perpendicular to the centerline of the rst mentioned conduit.

Having described the method of operation o my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:-

Electrical connector .comprising a contact member having an insulating base with a plurality of contacts, a shell having an outer shoulder and enclosing the Contact member, means formed in the Shell and on the contact member for positioning the contact member in the shell, a ring surrounding the shell and havinga ange engaging the shoulder, an end portion of the shell forming an annular groove and having a plurality of circumferentially spaced projections adjacent the groove, and a housing including said ring and an elbow, said elbow having a rst conduit and a second conduit arranged at an angle to the rst conduit, the second conduit having two halves joined together in a plane through the centerline of the second conduit and at an angle to the centerline of the rst conduit, one of said halves being integral with the first conduit and forming a circumferentially extending inner recess for receiving some of the projections on the shell, and a tongue and groove connection formed between the two halves to secure them together.

GEORGE B. BENANDER. 

